PLAINVIEW, Texas (Jan. 22, 2009) – Oklahoma Christian University earned a hard-fought 71-67 win at Wayland Baptist University (Texas) on Thursday night. The Eagles were once again led by Jason Taylor, who scored 23 points. 

The Eagles have now won four-straight games and are now 14-4 and 7-3 in the Sooner Athletic Conference. OC plays at Lubbock Christian University (Texas) on Saturday at 3 p.m. to complete their Texas road swing.

The Eagles got 15 points from sophomore Jeff Crocker, and senior Kyle Tefft added 14 points and seven steals in Thursday's win. David Jackson also reached double figures with 10 points and four assists.

OC hit 8-of-12 first-half three pointers and shot 57 percent (16-of-28) from the field to open the game.

Taylor – the reigning SAC and NAIA National Player of the Week – was OC's offensive catalyst with 17 points in the first half alone. He was flanked by Crocker's 12 points on 4-of-5 three-point shooting in the opening period.

A frantic opening five minutes left the game tied at 16-16 at WBU's Hutcherson Center. Taylor scored seven of the Eagles first 16 points, while Jason Griffin drained three triples for WBU (11-7, 3-7 SAC).

Two more interior hoops from Taylor and a three pointer from Jon Jonsson gave the Eagles a 23-18 lead by the 10:55 mark of the half.

The Pioneers briefly tied it at 25-25 with a Teddy Chambers baseline jumper at the 8:47 point.

But OC grabbed it right back with a Crocker bomb seconds later to light a 12-1 run that gave the Eagles the lead the rest of the way. The Sugar Land, Texas, product hit two more triples in the half, and OC led 42-33 at halftime.

Griffin went for 19 points in the first half after making 5-of-6 three-point tries.

It took just 12 seconds of second-half play for Crocker to make his fifth three and take OC's lead (45-33) back into double digits.

The Eagles' lead hovered between seven and 12 points for the next nine-plus minutes before a 13-4 Pioneer rally made it interesting. WBU whittled its deficit down to five points (54-49) with 9:45 left, then made it a one-possession game at 54-51 with a Chambers layin moments later.

Both teams went almost three minutes without scoring before Chambers pulled the Pioneers within one at 54-53 with 6:18 showing. But OC never gave up the lead.

The Eagles finally ended their long scoring drought when Tefft stole a WBU pass and scored a conventional three-point play in transition to put OC up 57-53 at 5:45. The three-point play started a game-deciding 10-3 rally for OC, and the Eagles held off the Pioneers the rest of the way.

Taylor scored at the 1:18 mark and David Jackson hit four free throws in the closing 27 seconds of the game. When Griffin hit from downtown with seven seconds left, the score was 70-67. But Crocker made 1-of-2 foul shots on the other to finally seal the deal for the Eagles.

WBU was paced by Griffin's 27 points and Chambers' 20.

-OC-